Using the power of pictures, the Hubble Space Telescope has snapped away at the mystery of the universe. For 19 years, Hubble has shown the epic violence of crashing galaxies, spied on the birth and death of stars, taught cosmic lessons, and even provided comic relief. Hubble lifted off Monday on a flight to the orbiting telescope 350 miles above Earth. In five painstaking spacewalks, astronauts will repair and replace broken instruments, add a new long-gazing camera, and then say goodbye forever to Hubble. If it all works, Hubble will get another five to seven years of life, before it is remote-control steered into a watery grave. Hubble doesn't just illustrate the story of the universe. It has its own story, complete with failure and redemption. Senior Hubble scientist Mario Livio rhapsodized about the drama of Hubble's own story, “turning something that could have been the biggest scientific fiasco to the biggest scientific success.” After its launch into space in 1990, the Hubble Space Telescope was stuck with blurry vision because its mirror wasn't quite right. It was the butt of jokes by late night comics; an editorial cartoon said its designer was Mr. Magoo, a nearsighted cartoon character. It seemed like a massively overbudget screw-up. But once it was fixed three-and-a-half years later with a new set of glasses, Hubble shed its myopic reputation. It began producing far-sighted images of space that seemed more art then astronomy. It was a Hubble image in 1995 that forever restored the telescope's tarnished early reputation. The picture was Eagle Nebula. It was stunning, with beautiful colors and dramatic clouds where stars formed. NASA called it “the pillars of creation.” And the public, which once snickered at Hubble, now was smitten. Hubble has snapped 570,000 pictures, and while some catch the birth of stars and planets, others capture the other end of life — death and violence on a cosmic scale.
